Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HOW LONG?, by HORATIO (HORATIUS) BONAR Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: My god, it is not fretfulness Last Line: Of error and of wrong. Subject(s): Faith; Mortality; Religion; Belief; Creed; Theology | ||||||||
MY God, it is not fretfulness That makes me say, "How long?" It is not heaviness of heart That hinders me in song; 'T is not despair of truth and right, Nor coward dread of wrong. But how can I, with such a hope Of glory and of home, With such a joy before my eyes, Not wish the time were come, Of years the jubilee, of days The Sabbath and the sum? These years, what ages they have been! This life, how long it seems! And how can I, in evil days, Mid unknown hills and streams, But sigh for those of home and heart, And visit them in dreams? Yet peace, my heart, and hush, my tongue; Be calm, my troubled breast; Each restless hour is hastening on The everlasting rest: Thou knowest that the time thy God Appoints for thee is best. Let faith, not fear, nor fretfulness, Awake the cry, "How long?" Let no faint-heartedness of soul Damp thy aspiring song: Right comes, truth dawns, the night departs Of error and of wrong. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MYSTIC BOUNCE by TERRANCE HAYES MATHEMATICS CONSIDERED AS A VICE by ANTHONY HECHT UNHOLY SONNET 11 by MARK JARMAN SHINE, PERISHING REPUBLIC by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE COMING OF THE PLAGUE by WELDON KEES A LITHUANIAN ELEGY by ROBERT KELLY A LITTLE WHILE by HORATIO (HORATIUS) BONAR |
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